School Daze
by Graphospasm
Summary: After beating Hiei for the Shadow Sword, Yusuke trained with Genkai for six months. A much-changed Hiei then reappeared for the Saint Beast arc. So where was Hiei during Yusuke's training? Would you believe he was "serving time" in a human middle school?
1. Chapter 1

School Daze

Chapter 01:

"A Most Embarrassing Predicament"

* * *

Hiei didn't like his holding cell much. It was small, for one thing, not even big enough to mock-spar in, and he didn't enjoy the prospect of sitting immobile in a room for more than a few hours at a time, for another. His wandering nature egged him on, made his muscles twitch beneath his skin, made him consider rushing the door at the first sign of it opening, but he knew the wards on the walls would keep him inside no matter how many escape attempts he executed. He was just too weak after his run-in with that blasted Spirit Detective, too weak to even…

He cracked an eye open, counting the number of talismans—strips of paper marked with black symbols and golden seals—decorating his Spirit World prison. There were many, it seemed that the child-prince Koenma was desperate to keep him fenced in, and each and every talisman seemed to mock him. _You can't get past me, I am an impenetrable barrier of doom, I _own_ you! _their black font screamed. Each seal was a watching eye, a Cyclops of malice and imprisonment.

Teeth ground together as Hiei closed his eyes again, settling down even further into his slumped seat against the wall. Most of his face lay concealed behind the mound of his white scarf. Oh, he mused in the haven of his mind, he could have easily fried those wards and escaped at one point during his life, in the time before the Jagan dropped his power level down from upper A-class demon to nothing stronger than a D-class weakling, but he didn't regret his decision to acquire the eye at all. The powers it would afford him—the powers he could have once he trained, grew used to it, and learned the ins and outs of its scope and depth—would more than make up for his momentary weakness.

Still, Hiei wasn't totally satisfied with himself; if one were to be perfectly frank, that dissatisfaction was the thing wholly responsible for landing him in this Spirit World jail in the first place. He had been impatient to get stronger after the Jagan surgery, and that impatience was what had driven him to steal the Artifacts of Darkness from the Spirit World. He had been planning on using the items as a placeholder for his lost power, at least until he managed to make full use of the Jagan and gain it back, and his plan would have worked out quite well, too, had a certain meddling Spirit Detective not gotten in his way…

_Damn that human boy,_ he thought with an audible growl that no one but his empty cell bore witness to. _Damn him and Koenma both. I'll rip their innards from their bodies with _pleasure_ if I ever get the chance._

Thinking about the error in that statement, he amended_: I'd rip the guts from _any_ human if I could!_

Shoulders tensed a second later as Hiei felt an energy signature—a massive one, an upper-A class, though Hiei didn't know the lettergrade-classifications quite yet and simply thought of that particular signature in terms like _massive, bestial, gargantuan_—come breezing down the hall. A key clicked in his cell's lock, and when he heard hinges squeal open he let his eyelids part.

The member of the Spirit Defense Force was tall, broad-shouldered, and pissed beneath his pretty-boy white hair and ice blue eyes. "On your feet," he snapped, and Hiei—knowing that resistance would be both foolish and embarrassing—stood up, smirked, and walked out of his cell. Two more SDF agents stood waiting in the hallway, their uniform armor looking like it had never seen the battlefield. Hiei could feel the power in them, however, and knew that was probably not the case.

"We're taking you to see Koenma," the original Spirit Defense Fighter said.

"No funny business," said another. This one was short with green hair and orange eyes, but he was as muscular as a bull.

"Any signs of resistance and we kill you," said the third. She stood the tallest of the three, and her power was the most noticeable. Hiei made a mental note to watch out for that one—brown braid, golden eyes, oval face, and pretty. Pretty but deadly and probably not the type to take his shit lying down, in fact.

So, Hiei just grunted and let the woman lead them all out of the cell block. Other inmates watched him go in silence, and without seeming to he let his red gaze wander over the bars of the other cells. Demons and renegade human souls stared at him with a mixture of hate and fear, but he ignored the looks in favor of searching for cool green eyes, ones that assessed and waited instead of seething like a caged tiger…

Hiei wasn't sure if he was pleased or disappointed to not see Kurama lurking in any cell they passed.

It didn't take long to reach Koenma's office, and the ogres and ferry girls they passed in the halls leading to it gave Hiei and his escort a wide berth. He caught more than one of them whispering about _the Artifact thief, caught by the new detective!,_ but he restrained himself to merely glaring at them. One short ferrygirl with red hair fainted dead away.

"Don't _do_ that," said the short SDF, and Hiei grimaced as they opened the office doors. Inside the room was bare and blank, the white tile on the walls making their voices echo. A large screen behind an even larger desk made the child standing in the chair between them look even tinier than he was, and Hiei stopped dead in his tracks to stare.

"_This_ is the ruler of the Spirit World?" he asked, tone mocking as he stared at Koenma's pudgy face and pacifier, and the SDF stared at Hiei in horror. Koenma himself grew livid, face purpling in a way more befitting of a drunken man of middle age than a toddler. "I wasn't aware they let _children_ in on the secrets of the universe."

"This child," Koenma retorted, "happens to have your very fate in his hands. I'd suggest you remember that before mouthing off again."

"Or what?" Hiei sneered.

Koenma's glare could have melted rock. "Or I'll have the reapers behind you do their _job_, like they've been wanting to for the past two weeks."

"It's been hard not to visit and give you the beatdown in that cell," said the blue-eyed SDF. He cracked his knuckles in one hand. "You embarrassed our junior members by breaking in, and you embarrassed our boss in front of King Yama himself. I was hoping for an execution, but—"

"That's enough, Inari," the female SDF snapped.

"But Omura—"

"Enough, I said," she said, eyes flashing. She turned back to Koenma. "Sir. I believe we are here to discuss this felon's punishment."

"Right," said Koenma, and he flipped open the file on his desk. "You have five counts of assault on Spirit World personnel, two counts of assault on the humans Yukimura Keiko and Urameshi Yusuke, three counts of theft, and—"

Hiei promptly stopped listening. His rap sheet was miles long, and whatever they did to him he knew he could handle, hence his composure.

That composure was shattered, however, when the doors to the room burst open.

"Koenma, sir!" a blue ore in a loincloth called, arms around a porcelain tub of water and ice cubes. It sloshed onto the floor as the ogre tried to carry the massive object over to the toddler's desk. "I brought the bath for your butt, Koenma sir!"

The jaws of the SDF dropped as one. Hiei's eyes opened as wide as they could go, mouth parting in surprise.

Koenma just froze. A bead of sweat bubbled on his temple, fists clenched atop the table as his face said _this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't—_

"You must be so tired of standing in your chair all the time," the ogre said, jovial and totally unaware of his discomfited audience. He probably couldn't even see them over the top of the tub he carried. "King Enma's spankings sure are terrible, aren't they sir? No wonder you need an ice bath for your butt—it's probably going to be sore for another week!" He set he tub down on the desk with a tidal wave of icy water.

"George," Koenma said. His body shook as his face grew redder, redder, and then even redder. "What have I told you about checking the room before bringing up my personal matters?"

George's grin vanished, and he turned toward the others for the first time.

"Oh," he said in a small voice. "Oh. I see. You have visitors." He turned to Koenma and scratched the back of his neck, smiling with nerves jumping in every line of his face. "Koenma sir, I didn't mean to bring up your spankings in front of other people, but—"

But George couldn't finish because at that point Koenma had grabbed him by the throat and was shaking him as hard as his pudgy arms could manage. "I HATE YOU!" Koenma was screaming. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE—"

"Please have mercy, Koenma sir!" George the Ogre choked out, eyes streaming as he fought to breathe.

Koenma's red face turned mauve. "Mercy? MERCY? Why should I show you MERCY when you just embarrassed me in front of—"

And then Koenma stopped.

Hiei, you see, had started to laugh.

Hiei does not laugh very often, and when he does the sound is usually enough to make his enemies turn tail and run away in terror. He has the habit of inflecting bloodlust, despair, and dark menace into each peal of sound, and the flashing of his eyes says _I am going to kill you, you fool, so run while you still can and before I break your legs and make running nothing more than a fond and forgotten dream._

But this laugh was not that laugh.

This laugh was different.

"The great Koenma, feared by demons everywhere, is not only a _toddler_," Hiei cackled, tone manic and full of humor that was as sharp and unforgiving as a sword, "but a toddler who gets _spankings_ as punishment for failure? _Spankings_?" He threw back his head and howled in a way he would never, probably, howl again, but this situation was just too good to pass up, now wasn't it? "And here I had begun to think I was going to really be _punished_ for making a fool of you!"

And Hiei laughed without a care.

Koenma stared at Hiei. George stared at Hiei. The SDF stared at Hiei. Their leader was the first to break free from her shocked trance.

"How _dare_ you laugh at Koenma?" the female barked, coming to stare down at Hiei like he was a bug.

Too bad for her that he wasn't afraid to stare right back. "How does it feel being a toddler's bitch?" he asked, smirking when her mouth fell open. "Does he make you change his diapers, or does that job fall to your cohorts?"

"Such impudence will not be tolerated in my presence!" she growled, and in a millisecond her hand pulled back, poised to strike him across the face. Hiei steeled himself as her fist descended, knowing full well that there was no point in fighting back even though his pride screamed at him to kill the woman then and there, but—

"No."

Her hand froze an inch from Hiei's face. "No?" she breathed, wild golden eyes locked on Hiei's impassive cherry ones. "No? But he—"

"No," Koenma repeated, and his face was open and clear when Hiei took the time to look.

A tremor of unease made the fire demon's stomach quirk, and the laughter died in his throat.

"Don't kill him," Koenma said slowly, and with steady hands he began flipping through the file on the desk. "Oh, no. Death won't do at all. I have something much worse than death planned for Hiei, here." He smiled the smile of a cherub. "Tell me, Hiei—how much do you hate humans?"

Hiei banished his unease because his pride wouldn't let him acknowledge it. "Not as much as I hate _you_," he snapped.

Koenma's smile grew (as did Hiei's trepidation at the sight). "But you hate them a lot?"

"They're spineless and weak," said the fire demon, remembering with bitterness the way that damned Spirit Detective had bested him in the warehouse. "They pack together because they're too afraid of failure to rely on their own strength. They're bugs, just waiting to be stepped on."

This time it was Koenma's turn to laugh—gleefully, with a fist pressed into his lips as his eyes watered with mirth.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Hiei," he chortled, "because very soon you're going to be _living_ as one!"

Silence.

Then: "WHAT?"

"You heard me!" Koenma said, and he threw himself on top of the desk so he could beat his fists on it and laugh. "You're going to _live as one_! Hoo ha! That's rich! THIS IS PERFECT!"

"I'll kill every last human you put me near, you fool!" Hiei bellowed, fists clenching at his side.

"Yes, Koenma sir, putting Hiei out amongst the humans seems like a very bad idea!" George said, leaning on the desk so he could get on Koenma's level. "He'd kill them as soon as he'd look at them! I know he embarrassed you, but this punishment isn't the way you should be getting your revenge!"

"Shut it, ogre!" Koenma snapped, laughter breaking off in an instant. "I know what I'm doing!" He looked to the stunned members of the SDF, who struggled to regain their collective composure under the gaze of their master. "You three take Hiei away so I can make the necessary arrangements. He has been sentenced to six months labor in the Human World." He couldn't hold back another burst of laughter, one that sent him rolling across the desk in spasms. "Details to come! HA!"

"You can't do this!" Hiei growled, and when the SDF closed in he snarled with teeth bared: "Don't touch me! We're not done here!"

"I'm afraid that I can, and that we are," Koenma said. He waved a hand at the SDF, who nodded and proceeded to hustle Hiei out even though the fire demon was still shouting obscenities at the ruler of the Spirit World. "Toodle-loo, Hiei! See you soon!"

"I'm not sure this is wise, Koenma sir," George said as Hiei's furious voice faded down the hall. "I know you're mad, but this is a bad idea. A very bad idea. Hiei will not cooperate."

"I have ways to make him cooperate," Koenma said.

"I'm sure you do, sir, but aren't you being just a little selfish in all of this? I feel like this punishment is only serving your sense of vengeance!"

Koenma's brow furrowed as he climbed back into his abandoned chair, careful not to aggravate his inflamed backside, and motioned for George to ready the ice bath. "I'm not going to deny that seeing Hiei live in the Human World as a human will amuse me," he said, and he promptly broke down into laughter at the thought of the irate fire demon doing things like using a can opener, or riding a bus, or anything, really. When he recovered, he went on with the words: "Hiei is a strong demon, with a reputation among demons as a particularly bloodthirsty individual. He is feared, you see, and just killing him or keeping him in prison is a waste of his… talents."

George raised an eyebrow as Koenma took off his pants and sank into the ice bath with a sigh, eyes closed in relief. "So you're going to let him use those talents on a bunch of unsuspecting _humans_? That's not very nice, Koenma sir."

Koenma cracked an annoyed eye. "I want him to work with Yusuke, you blue idiot." Eyes closed again when George stared at him in shock. "Don't act so surprised. Hiei is strong and feared. Having an infamous demon openly become an ally of the Spirit World will bolster my reputation tenfold."

"But… having him live as a human?"

"Think about it logically, ogre," Koenma said. "Hiei hates humans. He said it himself. Why would he ever deign to work closely with one, as I want him to work with Yusuke when the boy gets back from Genkai's training camp?" A low chuckle. "No, Hiei needs conditioning. He needs to see humanity outside of the demon perspective. Maybe then he'll become tolerant enough of them to work with Yusuke without killing the poor boy."

"So you really _did_ think about this punishment before you gave it!" George said, delighted. "Oh Koenma sir, I never doubted you for a second!"

"That's because I'm a genius, ogre, and I would take care to not forget it," said Koenma dryly. He shifted when his sore butt rested too sharply on the bottom of the tub. "Now bring me something to eat. I'm hungry!"

George scurried off, grinning at the intelligence of his boss. Little did he know that most of those lofty reasonings on Koenma's part had been made as afterthoughts.

_I'm brilliant without even knowing it,_ were Koenma's thoughts on the matter, followed by: _Revenge brings out the best in me, I suppose._

The revenge brewing in Hiei's mind at the time, of course, wouldn't bring out the best in him (not to mention Koenma) at all.

* * *

_NOTES:_

_PLEASE, don't kill me for this story. (*dodges bullets*) Calm down—just let me explain!_

_I've been reading fanfics for years. YEARS. And one of the things fanfics are infamous for are putting innocent, unsuspecting characters into a traditional highschool setting with little to no explanation. I did just that back in my early days. An AU is one thing (although it's a rarely well-done thing), but sometimes highschool!fics are so badly done that I want to RIP MY HAIR OUT. No explanation, little regard for what (if any) parts of the canon used, no reasoning besides "Ooh, what would Hiei and a self-insert of myself get into in highschool? And what stereotypes would each of us be! ZOMG, FTW!" _

_I hate that. But, I LIKE taking clichés and turning them inside out. _

_Hence my inflated ego thinking it can take on this fanfiction trope in a creative cagematch and still come out alive. It was only a matter of time, right?_

_Now, I have no idea if I'll be able to pull this off. Let's just get that out there while we can. But I plan on bringing in every last cliché I can think of (and please, suggest some if any come to mind) and making them work. I plan on having a plot, and reasons behind every direction this story goes, and I plan on having things make a limited amount of sense (yay!). We'll see what happens._

_I consider this story, for these reasons, as much a parody as it is a crackfic. Because it's definitely a crackfic. There's no denying it. This fic is as cracky as they come. _

_Now about this story's timeline. I actually worked it into the canon! WHAT? Yes! In case you couldn't tell from the millions of clues I worked into the text, this takes place right after Yusuke beats Hiei in the Articfacts of Darkness case. Yusuke spent six whole months with Genkai, but where was Hiei during that time? I touched on Kurama's whereabouts in this chapter, too, and I'll touch on them again with more detail soon enough. But Hiei will be the focus of this! HIEI, I SAY!_

_Hopefully, this crack-thing will give us an amusing "what if?" to fill the canon's missing space. _

_Just, please, DO NOT TAKE THIS TOO SERIOUSLY!_


	2. Chapter 2

School Daze

Chapter 02:

"Which Watch?"

* * *

Three days later, Hiei found himself in the presence of the prince of Spirit World once again. The toddler was sitting down this time, butt finally recovered from the punishment his father, King Enma, had inflicted upon it. The fire demon smirked, eyes glancing over the office like he owned it, and Koenma had to suppress a grin at the sight of Hiei's confidence.

He had no idea what was coming, did he?

Hiei broke the ice first, and kind of literally. "No ice baths this time?" he asked, maddeningly calm about the entire thing.

"No," Koenma said, eyebrow twitching. He regained his composure when he remembered what was in store for Hiei, and he smiled when he said: "Only humble pie." Brown eyes speared the SDF guards standing behind Hiei, and then he leveled a finger at the fire apparition, threw back his head, and screamed: "RESTRAIN HIM!"

The effects were instantaneous and unavoidable. Omura held out her hand, caught her hip-length chocolate brown braid in her fist, and then the braid lengthened and burst free of its confines with a rush of her spirit energy. It curled around her arm faster than any human eye could follow, twined around her fingers like eager snakes, and leapt straight through the air toward Hiei.

He tried dodging, of course, but since the attack had come from behind him and he only caught sight of it out of his periphery, Hiei was unable to get far enough to avoid having hair like spun steel wrap around his wrists and ankles, hoist him into the air, and hold him there as he kicked and cursed and tried to break free. "Put me down, you Spirit World bitch!" he snarled, and even though he knew the gesture was a futile one he let some of his fiery _youkai,_ the kind he had been born with and the kind the Jagan had lessened and replaced with its own, burst out of his skin. The scent of scorched hair made everyone's face twist in discomfort, but Omura only sighed as her hair regenerated itself and gripped Hiei even tighter.

One of the other SDF members, the one with the blue eyes and white hair whose name Hiei could not recall, stepped forward and, without flinching, thrust out his open hand. Hiei tried to bite it when it came near his face, but the SDF-er only sighed, smiled, and wrapped his fingers tight around Hiei's throat. Hiei choked on his own words, face turning an alarming shade of puce.

"Struggle," the man said pleasantly, "and I'll squeeze your head off."

Hiei glared, sputtered, and went still. He didn't stop glaring, but since glaring is his face's natural habitat, that much is to be expected.

"Thank you for shutting him up, Inari!" Koenma said brightly, and he hopped onto his desk, spun around in a giddy circle, and bounded down onto the floor. Hiei's lip curled in disgust as the toddler-prince all but skipped across the room, face alight with dark, sadistic glee, and then Koenma reached into his pocket and smiled.

Hiei, for all he thought the prince looked ridiculous and weak, did not like the look of that smile.

"What I have in my pocket," Koenma began, still grinning his devil-befitting grin, "will break your pride in half, then make you crawl to me on your hands and knees and _beg_ to be released from its effects." He raised the hand not shoved into his pocket so he could point menacingly into Hiei's face. "Prepare yourself, Hiei, for you are about to suffer the unimaginable."

Though he did not show it on his face, Hiei had begun to grow… trepidacious. He was not used to this.

"I've had the Spirit World's top technicians working on this for the past three weeks, day and night, with no rest," Koenma continued, enjoying his ability to draw out the suspense. "It was all for you, of course—all to make you as debased, embarrassed, and humiliated as possible."

By that point, he had become outright alarmed.

Koenma liked that. "More than one of the team collapsed from exhaustion from their efforts," he said, giggling, "but they did not work for nothing. What I am about to show you is quite possibly _the finest piece of Spirit World technology ever created_."

Inari, as interested as he was in crushing Hiei's windpipe, let his hand loosen as he listened to Koenma's promises. Hiei could breathe better, it was true, but that did not ease the sudden dryness in his mouth.

"Would you like a list of this item's benefits?" Koenma cooed. "Of course you would, since you'll be the first subject to experience it outside of a laboratory setting." He paused. "There may be a few bugs that need to be worked out, but I think you'll manage to survive them. Probably." He cackled aloud, eyes swimming in joyed tears. "Probably! Ha! That's rich!"

Omura, face composed, let out a small cough. She obviously wanted to see Hiei's fate as much as everyone else did. Probably not more than Hiei, though. He _really_ wanted to know what he was going up against.

But despite the pointed hint, Koenma wasn't done drawing it out (really, he was having more fun than he'd had in _ages_). "And I should mention before I get to the nitty-gritty," he said, "that because of your, Hiei, I plan on incorporating this invention into _all_ of my punishments. Your name will likely be cursed _all over Demon World_ for being the one to inspire its creation!"

"Get to the point, you long-winded fool," Hiei growled. Inari shot him a dark look and squeezed Hiei's throat again, but Hiei bore that indignity with good grace (and a gob of spit in Inari's pretty-boy face, but since Omura stopped the man from killing Hiei, our beloved anti-protagonist, it's hardly worth mentioning at all).

Once the drama died down, Koenma carried on unperturbed. "As I was saying, the benefits! It's small, but its power is potent. It's easy to use, and even easier to activate. Even the stupidest of demons will be able to understand how to live with it! Even better is that the demon afflicted with this device cannot remove it without my express permission, because to do otherwise would result in instant incineration, but the best part…"

Everyone leaned forward, most with bated breath. Koenma reveled in the attention, chuckling and grinning and looking as pleased as punch.

"And the best part," he finally said, "is that it's _painful_."

Hiei's eyes widened (hey, there was little else for him to do!).

Koenma let out a high-pitched scream of a laugh. The hand in his pocket jerked upward, pudgy fist clenched tight as Koenma held it above his head and screeched: "Behold, Hiei, the instrument of your demise: THE DEMON'S BANE 2000!"

Then his hand opened.

Hiei, from his place in Inari's hold, stared. Then his face went from fiercely-brave-despite-the-total-hopelessness-of-the-situation, to I'm-not-sure-what-I'm-looking-at-it-but-it's-definitely-not-what-I-was-expecting confusion. Omura, meanwhile, gaped, and the heretofore-silent third SDF member looked stunned beneath his mop of green hair. Inari, however, being the least experienced of the three (he had only just made the SDF cut a month before, if you want to know the truth, but that's a story for another day) opened his mouth to speak.

"A wristwatch?" he asked. His hand dropped from Hiei's throat as he started to wildly gesticulate. "You're giving Hiei a _wristwatch_?"

A snake of Omura's hair promptly detached from Hiei, shot forward, and slammed into Inari's toe, but the youngster just glared at her and said: "I thought we were punishing him, not accessorizing him! What is this, Queer Eye for the Demonic Felon? Where's the blood, the spikes, the—"

Koenma went red across the face and lowered his hand, clutching the wristwatch—because that's exactly what it looked like with its black leather strap, square silver face, and bright blue backlight—tight to his chest as Inari ranted, raved, and generally insulted everything about the Demon's Bane 2000 he could possibly think of.

When he was through, face pink and sweaty, Koenma just glared at him and said, in a very, very dramatic whisper: "Leave now, you ignorant naysayer!"

And that's exactly what Inari did, because he was too impatient to wait for the big reveal like a good minor character should. Hopefully none of you will make the same mistake?

Anyway:

Hiei didn't know what a wristwatch was (they were only just beginning to come into fashion in Demon World and he had never been one to follow trends) but he knew, given Inari's outburst, that they were nothing to be afraid of. He relaxed in Omura's hold, smirking, and when the door slammed shut behind Inari he said: "A wristwatch, Koenma? Is that really the best you could do?"

Koenma's red face went purple. "The base design _might_ have been a wristwatch," he ground out from between clenched teeth, "but it does much more than just tell time, I assure you, so would you quit _sneering_?"

Hiei did not quit sneering. If anything, his sneer became a mocking grin.

"I suppose I'll just have to wipe that grin off your face with a little demonstration, then," Koenma said primly. He looked to the SDF-er with the green hair. "Moir, if you'd please lower Hiei's wrist for me?"

"Can't reach it yourself, infant?" Hiei said at the same time Moir said "My pleasure," and Moir was not gentle when he grabbed Hiei's neck and yanked him toward the ground. Hiei's knees collided with the floor as Omura used her hair to keep him pinned; Moir reached down, grabbed Hiei's elbow, and jerked his arm into the air. With his other hand he pushed back the sleeve of Hiei's cloak, exposing bare skin and a clenched hand.

Koenma—in a flash of speed Hiei had not been expecting—darted forward and smacked the back of the watch's metal body against the back of Hiei's exposed wrist.

The Demon's Bane 2000 very quickly showed its worth when the leather straps, seemingly of their own accord, wrapped around Hiei's wrist and fastened themselves tight with a click and a tug. The watch-face flashed bright blue, pulsing in time to Hiei's heartbeats (though only Hiei knew that that was the case), and then the blue light flashed and turned to deep, scintillating red tipped with black, blue, and violet, an outward manifestation of the colors of Hiei's soul (though only Koenma knew that _that_ was the case). The color shifted back to bright blue, then, and much to Hiei's horror the blue light began to spread from the watch's face in a slow moving wave, inching down his hand and fingertips even as it started to travel up his arm.

Despite not knowing what the light would do to him, Hiei was not about to go down without a fight. He sent out ferocious bursts of his energy, trying to push the light back as best he could, but the light was a hungry thing that merely attached to the energy tendrils and clung to them, and this only made the light spread faster until it coated every inch of Hiei's skin and hair and eyes and—well, you get the point. To Koenma, Omura, and Moir, it looked like someone had dipped Hiei in phosphorescent paint.

To Hiei, of course, the reality was a starker thing. He could feel the light tracking over him, slowing, agonizingly changing him from the inside out, polluting and mixing with and melding everything that made him, _him _with the blue invasion, and when his body became completely coated in the light it started to recede with the same aching slowness. The light, mixed as it was with his power, grabbed at his demonic energy and pulled it out of Hiei's chest as it itself pulled away, reeling in toward the watch on his wrist, leaving him feeling exposed and cold and disconnected in its wake and he _hated_ it, dammit, _he hated it!_

The worst part, though, was that he could still _feel_ his stolen power even after it was stripped away. It buzzed angrily inside the watch, demanding to be freed, but no matter how hard he tried he could not absorb it again, and all attempts to access his power failed.

Reaching inside himself to feel his familiar well-spring of power was impossible. A small portion of his power remained within reach inside his body, but accessing the rest of it in the watch was like grabbing at a brick wall: all he got out of his attempts were metaphorical sore fingers.

"Good, very good," Koenma murmured. He had walked back to his desk while the light spread over Hiei and was staring at a small screen built into the desktop. On it were graphs and charts and fluctuating read-outs. "The Demon's Bane 2000 has successfully absorbed 80% of Hiei's energy reserves."

Omura looked up at Koenma in shock. "You mean that little thing—"

"Has the ability to drain most of a demon's energy and lock it away indefinitely," Koenma finished. His smiled was relieved, as if he hadn't been sure the device would work (which, in truth, he hadn't been since it was still in experimental phases). "On a stronger demon, the DB2000 would probably break under the pressure long before it reached 80% absorption, but for a demon of Hiei's level it is more than adequate to reduce his power to that of an exceptionally gifted, psychic human being."

"So _that's_ what you meant when you said he'd be living as a human," Moir said.

But Koenma only grinned. "You'll see!" he said, and to Omura he added: "Let go of him and enjoy the show. It's only halfway over!"

She did as told. Hiei, however, did not stand up when freed, and when the light faded from him completely he made no move to rise. Finally, however, he raised his head, opened his eyes, and said in a remarkably calm voice: "What did you _do_ to me?"

The lights, when everyone saw Hiei's face, seemed like little more than parlor trickery in comparison to their secondary effects.

Before, Hiei's hair had been blue-black, the tips of which caught the light and made it shimmer with indigo richer than any dye. There had been white streaks at the front, too, that marked Hiei as something _other_, _dangerous_, and _different_.

Now, however, the blue and white were gone, replaced with flat, matte black no more exotic or rich than the hair of your average Japanese person.

Before, Hiei's eyes had been unearthly scarlet, thickly lashed, and wide to the point of seeming childish. They'd snapped with power and emotion you'd have to be a master to truly read, and the color _screamed_ at you, impossible to ignore and even more impossible to forget.

Now, however, Hiei's eyes were russet brown, and the only red in them came when light struck in _exactly_ the right, rare way. They still flashed, they still boiled, but…

Russet was no scarlet.

"What," he repeated, "did you do to me?", and he ripped off the bandana on his forehead. Smooth, unblemished skin felt cool beneath his fingertips.

Koenma smiled smugly. "I only made you more palatable to human tastes, Hiei," he said. "For the next six months, you have been sentenced to spending time in Human World in order for you to learn about the humans there, and to learn to respect them." He leveled a finger at the fire demon, whose russet eyes had widened past the point of possibility. "Good behavior will result in a chance of a _chance_ of parole, one that will take the form of working alongside my Spirit Detective until we see that you have been reformed into a nonviolent, cooperative demon we can count on in times of crisis."

"You can't do this," Hiei breathed, anger so barely controlled that he was trembling from the effort of not ringing Koenma's neck. Hiei, waste valuable time among _humans_, only to go on to work with the one who had _bested_ him? It was unthinkable!

"I believe I just did," Koenma quipped. His smile looked less satisfied after that. "I understand you don't want to do this, but I believe it's for the best. You really don't have a choice in the matter, anyway."

"I'll kill them all if you make me live in Human World," Hiei breathed in that same, murderous voice, and Koenma's eyes widened.

"That reminds me!" he said, clasping his hands in resolution, and then he punched a button on his desk's screen. The words DEFENSE ACTIVATED flashed before him in bright red. "Try saying that again!"

Hiei's face contorted into a mask of fury. "I said I'll kill—"

_BZZT—!_

Hiei growled, grabbed his head in both hands, and convulsed as bright sparks of electricity burst out of the watch, coursed over his skin, and speared into his temples. Pain rocketed around inside his skull, ricocheting around until his mind felt as sharp as tortured jelly.

"Any thoughts of inflicting harm on a human," Koenma dryly remarked, "will be sensed and punished by the DB2000, level of shock directly proportional to intensity of thought."

Hiei looked up, glaring harder than he'd ever glared before, as the sparks disappeared. The intense, stinging pain faded as well, none lingering in his skull despite how much it had hurt.

_I would have been able to shrug that pain off if I wasn't wearing this damn watch!_ he thought. _Damn Koenma, I'll kill him if—_

Shocks made him cradle his head in his hands once more, but he did not give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him groan.

"Thoughts of harming me or Spirit World personnel are punishable as well," Koenma said. He smiled like a cherub. "And I suppose I should mention that any attempts to remove the Demon's Bane 2000 will result in a shock powerful enough to kill you outright. Any questions?"

Just one, it seemed. "Can I at least kill _demons_?" Hiei snarled. He would need _some_ sort of outlet for his aggression if he were to spend six—he could hardly believe he was admitting it to himself—_six entire months_ living amongst infuriating vermin.

Koenma giggled. "Of course you can! I wouldn't leave you _totally_ defenseless." He pointed at the watch. "There is a sensor built into the DB2000 that senses demonic energy. If a demon gets within fifty meters of your person, your power will be returned until the energy disappears. Once the demon is dead or vanished, your power will be drained again."

Well, that was _something_, at least. Hiei appeared a little less crazed after that, though he felt no less hatred for the toddler.

"Now, Hiei," Koenma said, "I assume you don't know how to read?"

"No," was the curt response. Why would Hiei need something like reading in Demon World, anyway? Strength was the law there, and the sharpness of your sword the only creed.

"Well, then," Koenma said, and he pushed another button. The DB2000's screen, the one of Hiei's wrist, lit up with bright blue. "You'll need it for school."

"School?" Hiei said, alarmed at the out-of-place notion, and then his mind became awash in letters, symbols, codes—he clutched at his head again as information beamed directly into his brain, and when the flood diminished and he glared down at the thing on his wrist, he was able to recognize the characters ringing its face as… numbers.

"Also," Koenma informed him, "pressing the face once and speaking the phrase 'Information,' and then a word you want to know about, will tell you things about the Human World you might not have already known." He seemed eager. "Would you like to practice?"

"No," came Hiei's instant reply, and Koenma's face fell.

"Oh." He paused, wracking his brains for something else to say, but this time Hiei lead the conversation.

"What did you mean, _school_?" he demanded.

"Well, what better way to learn about humans than to study alongside them?" Koenma said innocently. Inside, he was rubbing his hands together and twirling an imaginary mustache. "I have made arrangements for you at a human boarding school, where you will live for the next six months as a human student. You'll travel there tomorrow, and _don't_ try to run away during the trip." He shook a mocking finger in Hiei's direction. "The Devil's Bane 2000 is a state-of-the-art tracking device as well as an information resource, energy suppressor, and communication device. Resisting my demands is absolutely _futile_."

Hiei inclined his now one-colored head and glared through russet eyes. He did not, however, say anything or mouth a snappy retort, because he was intelligent. Wasting energy this early in Koenma's game would not be worth the results, and he knew that well enough to keep his mouth shut and just accept everything… for the time being.

Koenma looked to Omura and Moir. "Take Hiei back to his cell," he ordered, and Moir hauled Hiei to his feet by the arm. To Hiei, Koenma said: "Human clothes will be brought to you tomorrow. And remember, Hiei, that cooperation will make things go much more smoothly than you think. Do as I've asked, and you will be able to be free in as little time as a year. Do you understand how generous I'm being to you, a convicted murderer and thief?"

Hiei shook Moir off and stared at Koenma, face blank as he thought it all over.

"I understand," he said at last, face still schooled into a careful neutral, and he turned and walked out of the room on his own.

But inside, beyond the blank face and apparent hopelessness of the situation, he was planning.

And when Hiei plans, you can bet he plans things well.

* * *

_NOTES:_

_INFO-DUMP CHAPTER, AHOY!_

_Remember the Spirit Detective Gadgets Yusuke got in the beginning of the series? Yeah, the DB2000 is one of those, Graphospasm-style. HUZZAH!_

_Remember, I need your help on this fic, guys! I want to deal with the worst of the high-school-fic clichés and stereotypes, so any suggestions you have for Hiei's fellow students, teachers, situations, and other such shenanigans, are greatly appreciated! Credit will be given if I use one of your ideas, naturally, so yay for getting involved? XD_

_AND MY LOVELY REVIEWERS! I've written you all little mini-replies because I can't remember who I replied to already, because I'm REALLY DUMB. You'll come to learn that soon enough. ^^_

_YOU PEOPLE ARE LOVELY__**: j.d.y**__ (he won't like what he gets until it's too late… MWA HA HA), __**Wings of Silver Rain**__ (You guessed it! Powers are almost gone!), __**Alice**__ ( I hope this doesn't disappoint!), __**loser94**__ (I'm serious about working on it, never fear!), __**chocolateluvr13**__ (LOVE your cupcake idea, and the 3 mile idea, and basically all of the ones you wrote! XD), __**HeeHeeHee01**__ (Now you know! POOR HIEI!), __**Kaijin**__-__**san**__ (I hope you liked this as much as the last one; I didn't describe as much, I'm afraid, but love me anyway? Pwease?), __**Anonymous**__**D**__ (I like your ideas! Thanks so much for sending 'em!), __**Lady of the Gags**__ (Hope you liked it!), __**Masuyo Shun**__ (Mehehehe, the uniform… you'll see!), __**rain chant**__ (Hope you liked it, and thanks for the vote of confidence!), __**SillyGoddessDisco **__(Hope you enjoyed!),__** maru101**__ (Thanks, and enjoy!), __**DevilAngelWolf27**__ (Woot! Enjoy!), __**HerexForxYourxEntertainment**__ (are you an Adam Lambert fan, perchance? XD), __**Panda-chan31**__ (I get ya, and I'm glad to fill in the gaps!), __**Bi Gay Straight Who Cares**__ (you got the Scooby Doo reference! YAY!), __**Alleluia Elizabeth**__ (Yay for intensity! That's one of my favorite words!), __**Kajihenge Yoko**__ (I agree, but we'll see if he actually learns anything! ). _


	3. Chapter 3

School Daze

Chapter 03:

"Drop-Off Point"

* * *

Tall iron gates bisected a tall brick wall, and a sign arching above the gates proclaimed: "OMOSHIROI ACADEMY, EST: 1922." Ivy clung to the wall in places, draping it in vines so dense one lost sight of the red stone lurking beneath, and the streets outside the walls were immaculately clean, austerely unadorned, and completely deserted. Despite being located on the outskirts of a major city, the school gates gave the impression that the institution within was one characterized by willing isolation and proud standoffishness; obviously, whoever had designed the place had thought it superior to the rest of the world and, therefore, a prime candidate for a private compound away from prying plebian eyes. Though Hiei could only barely make out a cluster of buildings looming in the distance behind the ivy-wrought gates, he could tell from their misty silhouettes that they were just as forebodingly secluded as the gates seemed to suggest.

Hiei's lip curled. He hated the place on sight.

But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? After all, Hiei did not just sprout in front of his new school like some sort of quick-growing mushroom—he was taken there after being given very specific instructions. And here, dear reader, are those instructions rendered in utmost detail:

Early that morning in the heart of the Spirit World, three ogres led by one green-haired ferrygirl marched down into the Spirit World's maze of cellblocks. The ferrygirl carried a cloth sack in one hand; two of the ogres bore a large leather trunk precariously between them, trading looks that said why-the-heck-did-_we_-have-to-get-this-job?; the last ogre carried a black backpack in his hands and twisted the straps like he could wring a get-away out of them.

The ferrygirl, however, was not nearly as nervous as her escorts. Even though many of the imprisoned demons hissed lewd comments her way, or threatened the weakling ogres' lives, or demanded to be released so they could suck the marrow from the pretty girl's sweet bones, the ferrygirl only looked at them through cool, unassuming grey eyes and smiled a small, bland smile in response. This icy politeness and utter lack of fear made many of the demons pull back in disquieted surprise, and soon enough the ferrygirl found herself in the section of the jail with heavily reinforced doors, quieter prisoners, and—blessedly—far less threats hissing on the air. She walked among the heavy doors for a while, searching for one in particular, and when she found it she took a key from the depths of her white kimono, fitted it to the lock, and pushed the door wide open.

Hiei, of course, sat leaning against the wall in full view of the door, and when the ferrygirl entered she showed him only the most cursory of interest before gesturing for the ogres to bring in their load. They did so without a word and dashed out as soon as they could, leaving the ferrygirl and Hiei very much alone.

The fire demon was the first to speak. "So now Koenma sends a little _girl_ to do his bidding?" he mocked, looking her up and down. She wore a white kimono with a silver pattern of cranes and reeds on the hems, and her large grey eyes made her look guileless, if not a little cold given their dead expression. Her convincing green hair, however, made him think she was much more than a mere girl, no matter how human in shape she appeared to be. Naturally green hair wasn't something you saw on a human, after all.

The ferrygirl's lips—coral-pink and full—thinned a little, but she did not retaliate with words. Instead, she just reached into her kimono's sleeve and pulled out a small manila folder. Tossing it to the ground at Hiei's side took little more than a flick of her pale wrist.

The pair then proceeded to stare at one another, because neither wanted to talk first. To Hiei, it appeared as if the ferrygirl was little more than an emotionless robot of a doll, hardly worth his time considering that she worked for the enemy and looked weak in the bargain, and to the ferrygirl Hiei seemed little more than a broken demon with too much pride and not enough power to back it up. Thus, both thought themselves superior to the other, and neither wanted to be the first to speak.

Hiei was the first to break their stare, but only so he could grab the folder, open it up, and look at its contents. When he saw them, his brow furrowed.

"My name is 'Himura Hiei', now?" he asked. "What kind of idiotic name is that?"

The ferrygirl finally spoke. Her voice, when it came, was dry, lacking in inflection, and hoarse. "It's the name I picked for you," she told Hiei. "You'll learn it, or look a fool."

Hiei looked back up at her. The fact that this woman—she'd graduated from 'ferrygirl' to the marginally more respectful 'woman' in his head—had been the one to pick his human name probably meant she was important, but why _her_? Why _not_ Koenma? Had the toddler prince lost interest so quickly after sentencing Hiei's fate?

"And who are _you_, exactly?" Hiei asked, deciding to be blunt about the matter.

"I'm your caretaker," she dead-panned, and she said nothing else.

Hiei (sensing that the woman probably wasn't going to open up any time soon) looked back down at the file. On it lay a list of things he supposed humans found important, but were things he looked at with utmost disdain. He had, apparently, been born on December 25th, was five feet tall, weighed a scant one hundred pounds, and had an O-negative blood type. Parents were deceased; legal guardian was…

"Who is Kitsuroya Karin?" he asked.

"Me," said the ferrygirl. When Hiei looked alarmed, she said: "I have been put in charge of your punishment."

"Reporting to Koenma?"

"Among other things," was her response. "I am one of the technicians who developed the… Demon's Bane 2000." Her lips tightened imperceptibly; Hiei began to view the expression as one of distaste on Karin's otherwise expressionless features. Did she not like the gadget's name? "If the device shows signs of malfunction, or if your cover as a human student slips, I will be available to repair or assist as needed."

"You'll be available," Hiei said slowly, and then he grinned. Well, bared his teeth. "Available how? Have you been sentenced to go to a damned human school, too?"

But Karin was not the type to humor such a viciously posed question. "I was also put in charge of arranging the details of your stay in Human World," she said. "I have kept your fabricated background simple so you may fill in the gaps as you see fit."

Hiei 'humph'ed.

Karin told him: "Remember it well. Humans put much stock in their pasts."

"Only because they're so short-lived that they are loathe to let go of any moment, no matter how inconsequential," Hiei spat. "Spirit World should put the entire race out of its misery and save me the troub—"

The Demon's Bane lit up, shocked him, and went dark. Hiei's hair smoldered faintly, and he was pretty sure he chipped one of his molars when he ground his teeth together in pain.

Karin gave no indication that she had noticed the incident. "You were born in Tokyo to a family of martial artists," she said, "hence your noticeable physique."

_Noticeable _what_?_ Hiei thought. His prideful side was pleased, but he didn't want her compliments and said nothing.

"Your parents were killed in a car accident a month ago. I, Kitsuroya Karin, am your mother's baby sister, and I am your last remaining relative." She paused. "I'm your aunt."

Hiei snorted. "Yes, I think I got that."

She nodded in approval, refusing to acknowledge his sarcasm. "I took you in despite only being eighteen years old myself, barely of age and on my own as well, and I sent you to boarding school with your inheritance money." Her face did not show any emotion as she spun this story, a story Hiei grudgingly committed to memory. "I do not care if you pretend to grieve your parents. Say you weren't close to them if you choose not to; it matters little."

Hiei, for all his dislike of the situation, felt resentfully grateful for Karin's lack of insistence he act certain way. The simpler she left his 'life,' the better.

Unbeknownst to him, Karin felt much the same way about the whole affair, but we'll get to that later.

"Beyond that, memorize the information on that sheet," Karin said, gesturing at the folder. "You need not say anything about your education prior to attending the school I have selected; you were, as far as the humans are concerned, homeschooled by private tutors your entire life. Your grades were above average, though not exceptional. Feel free to improve or degrade them as you wish, so long as you don't get yourself expelled."

"Can we get going already?" Hiei snapped. He didn't like to wait around; the information on the sheet had been trivial and easy to remember, so he was ready to go ahead and get this over with.

Karin shook her head, plain pony tail of green hair flopping around her shoulders. "You must dress yourself, first." She held out the cloth sack in her left hand, making no move to come any closer with it. Hiei grumbled as he forced himself to stand up, move forward, and snatch it away.

When he saw what was inside of it, however, his face darkened.

"What in the world is this?" he asked, closing the bag's mouth abruptly.

"Omoshiroi Academy requires a school uniform," Karin said, and she turned her back on Hiei. Did she not know that turning your back on a demon meant you did not fear their power and that the slight could be interpreted as am insulting challenge, or was she mocking Hiei's weakness on purpose? It was hard to tell through Karin's perfect poker face. "Change, now."

Her brave—or foolhardy—gesture made Hiei and his boundless pride want to wring her neck, and he was promptly assaulted by a burst of electricity from the DB2000. Karin turned his way long enough to raise an eyebrow as he clutched at his agonized head, and then she said: "Please, do not resist. It's not worth the pain."

"Damn you," Hiei growled, and he jerked off his cloak and threw it to the ground.

The uniform, when he finally managed to button it properly and figure out the metal-toothed contraption on the pants (it was a zipper, for the record, which was something Hiei had never dealt with before), wasn't totally horrendous. Hiei just hated it because it was so _human_, with its suit-jacket-blazer over a white button-up shirt, its narrow black tie and shiny black shoes, and fitted black pants that made movement much more difficult than his loose cloak and shapeless trousers ever had.

"How am I supposed to walk in shoes this stiff?" he complained as he laced the leather creations up. The squeaked comically with every step he took.

Karin looked him up and down, not commenting on how the deep cranberry-mauve color of the jacket—a color that looked very much like Hiei's new, darker eyes—seemed to suit him. "They will break in with time," she said. She glanced pointedly at his discarded cloak, pants, and boots. "You may keep those items in your trunk, if you wish."

Hiei gathered his things, walked to the trunk, and popped open the latches. Inside was a neatly folded assortment of pants, shirts, and other clothes, but he just dumped his old clothes on top with no regard for organization.

"We have provided you with athletic shoes, sandals, summer clothes, and winter clothes," Karin said as Hiei shut the trunk. "It is autumn in the Human World, and over the course of the next six months—"

Hiei inwardly winced at the reminder.

"—you will experience the cold of winter as well as the warmth of spring. You have only one school jacket, but that is normal. Change out the shirt, pants, and tie daily for the sake of cleanliness."

"I know how to dress myself," Hiei snapped, wheeling on her with the intention of glaring her into submission, but intimidating Karin was like trying to intimidate a wall. Her expression never even faltered.

"The condition of your cloak suggests otherwise," she remarked dryly. Before Hiei could respond and tell her about the horrors of Demon World and how clothes were basically stupid, anyway, she said: "There are school supplies in the backpack. I also managed to talk Koenma into affording you a monthly allowance. This is most generous of him, as you are a felon and you do not deserve such kindness, but I argued that there would be no way for you to live in the Human World without money." She dipped her head. "I will deliver the money to you when applicable, and you are welcome."

The fire demon who had no intention of thanking her let out a low growl. Karin turned to the door, posture stiff and regal as she walked out.

"There are wheels on one end of the trunk and a strap on the other. Drag it behind you. Put on the backpack so your hands are free."

"I don't need you to tell me how to carry things, woman," he snapped, but he did as told because what the hell _else_ was he supposed to do? He was practically helpless, with energy locked away in the DB2000 and sword locked away in a vault somewhere, so it wasn't like fighting was an option, and since he was in Spirit World, what was the point of running? There was nowhere to _go_!

And so, Hiei followed the ferrygirl, muttering darkly all the while.

The trunk was not heavy on Hiei's still-strong arms (sealing his _youkai_ didn't affect his physical strength much, if at all) and the rest of their journey took all of ten minutes. They went out of the cellblock, past hooting and hollering prisoners, and into a large atrium. They did not head to Koenma's office, instead taking a different route through the maze of hallways until they came to a set of large doors. Karin knocked on them, and inside stood a large square platform with glowing gold tiles on the floor. Other than that, the room was bare and shadowy.

"The platform is a transportation device," Karin solemnly intoned as she ushered Hiei inside. "It will take you to the school's gates. Step on it when you're ready. They are waiting for you. And remember: do not run. It will be a futile effort." A pause. Then: "Oh, and do try to be inconspicuous. Though I will do it if need be, I do not want to have to cover up your mistakes more than once. "

Hiei bared his teeth. "Putting me in this position was mistake enough, stupid woman."

"Probably," she said from behind him, and Hiei's head whipped around when he heard the doors shut; Karin had vanished while he studied the platform through narrowed eyes.

After that, there was nothing for Hiei to do but step on the platform and, in a rush of wind that forced Hiei's eyes to close, find himself standing just outside the gates of Omoshiroi Academy.

Perhaps I should mention, however, that Hiei did not go inside just yet. Despite Karin's many warnings not to run, Hiei turned his back on the Academy's gates and walked smartly in the opposite direction.

* * *

_NOTES:_

_You didn't REALLY think Hiei would do this willingly, did you? HECK NO! He's a fighter to the end!_

_Dunno why this turned into another info-dump chapter. I had a different plan for introducing Karin (who we'll be seeing a surprising lot of), but then I realized that a bunch of little things needed to get cleared up to avoid confusion, and… well, this is the result. It'll make future things go more smoothly._

_ANYWAY. I'm really starting to like this fic. All of your ideas have been awesome so far! Here are some of them:_

Hiei gets a fanclub/students start crushing on Hiei en masse_ (BY: j.d.y., chocolateluvr13, etowa-ru, Anonymous D)_

Typical school stereotypes being stereotypical_ (BY: OhhTaylorJade, Kajihenge Yoko)_

A Hiei-stalker/rapist person of TERROR_ (BY: Kajihenge Yoko)_

An evil teacher out to get Hiei_ (BY: Kajihenge Yoko)_

Hiei making messes and destroying classrooms because he doesn't know how to act/feels insecure with his new humanity_ (_suggestions of this nature ranged from exploding cupcakes, wreaking havoc with a katana, to "conquering" paintbrushes in art class) _(BY: Kaijin-san, chocolateluvr13, etowa-ru)_

Interesting ice queen who sparks interest_ (BY: Anonymous D)_

_And guess what? I LOVE ALL OF THEM TO PIECES. Hopefully when, in the next couple of chapters, we see the school itself, I can work some of them in! YAY!_

_And, of course, you are all LOVELY: etowa-ru, Out-Of-Control-Authoress, Wings of Silver Rain, chocolateluvr13, Kaijin-san, Kajihenge Yoko, Memento Arcane, DevilAngelWolf27, Dreamehz, DaAmazingMeepers, OhhTaylorJade, and j.d.y.!_


End file.
